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Customers renting a Menorca villa with Bartle Holidays around the time of the Sant Antoni (St. Anthony) holiday this year will have the chance to witness an historic re-enactment of the island’s invasion by Catalonian and Aragonese troops in the Middle Ages.

The project has just been awarded a 29,000 Euro budget, partially paid for by the City Council and partially through private support, and is being put together by the Genealogy and Culture departments of the Menorca City Council.

The re-enactment is appropriately set in Plaza Conquesta (Conquest Square), the main square of the island’s capital, Mahon. Among the ranks of actors carrying out the battle scenes will be some of Menorcan culture’s main names, including Adriana Aguilar, Manolo Obrador, Lluís Vinent and Jaume Gomila.

According to the actors and director Pitus Fernández, the play, based on a 14th-century piece of literature, will be very colourful and musical, making it of a possible event of interest to Bartle Holidays patrons visiting Menorca around the time of the event.

According to Menorca City Hall, the location of Plaza Conquesta was chosen due to the spot’s symbolism in Menorcan history. Combatants will be facing off directly under the statue of King Alphonse “The Generous”, erected to remember and commemorate the day of the conquest.

Menorca was first taken by Aragonese and Catalonian armies on January 17, 1287, a date that has, since then, become a national holiday. This invasion marked a change in the island’s population, with most of the previously resident Moors being ousted or forcibly converted to Christianity. The kingdom subsequently became a part of the Kingdom of Mallorca, a vassal state to Aragon. It was during this time that many of Menorca’s current institutions and towns were established, shaping the island such as it is today.